Failed survey

[russ]

Excitement has now turned to anxiety. I had such high hopes on this boat after seeing quite a few.

Engines and legs were surveyed today and the result was not good. So I have just emailed the broker to reject the boat and ask for my deposit back.
On the telephone call before my email was sent, the broker said I cant do that without giving the owner the chance to rectify the faults.

I have the agreement document that I haven't signed yet as it has the wrong date and an unrealistic completion date. Which I did notify him of via text the day after I received it but he's yet to reply.

Lets hope he doesn't get nasty.

 

[Mr Googler]

What where the issues?

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

You paid a deposit without a signed agreement in place?

 

[CLB]

Why not go along with the brokers suggestion and give the owner a chance to rectify the faults. Sounds like you like the boat apart from that.

 

[Seastoke]

Excitement has now turned to anxiety. I had such high hopes on this boat after seeing quite a few.

Engines and legs were surveyed today and the result was not good. So I have just emailed the broker to reject the boat and ask for my deposit back.
On the telephone call before my email was sent, the broker said I cant do that without giving the owner the chance to rectify the faults.

I have the agreement document that I haven't signed yet as it has the wrong date and an unrealistic completion date. Which I did notify him of via text the day after I received it but he's yet to reply.

Lets hope he doesn't get nasty.

why not give the seller chance to put it right

 

[russ]

You paid a deposit without a signed agreement in place?

Yes as broker said someone was looking at her the very next day (probably b.s but I’ve missed out on others by hanging around) and as it looked a nice boat and the broker came across very sincere I paid the deposit. Not my best move.
So viewed boat Sunday, paid deposit Monday, contract arrived Tuesday and surveyed today.
Is contract binding if I go ahead and sign it now?

 

[russ]

What where the issues?

Main faults are;
Rusty sumps
Corroded lift rams
Leaking turbo
Leaking / corroded steering arms
Play in outdrive joints.

There were other minor points

 

[Sneds]

Get a price to put right and make a reduced offer

Assuming you
like the boat still

 

[Mr Googler]

Main faults are;
Rusty sumps
Corroded lift rams
Leaking turbo
Leaking / corroded steering arms
Play in outdrive joints.

There were other minor points

I’d give the owner a chance to fix it all before walking away personally....if you like the rest of the boat obviously however.....I guess you do as you paid a deposit

 

[Portofino]

Is there a schedule in the contract that deals with the depo ?
Will it have the various proviso regarding refund ?

Can you show us that part , suitably anonymised ?

You see although it’s not signed and you hope because of that they will gave a total refund on your demand , by paying a depo I assume the other side has upholder its side and put you at the top of the buyer pile and you have first refusal.
But on the terms of the contract .

Problem with negotiating a reduction for you to arrange a fix is once an engineer gets in , there’s gonna be with aged outdrive a “ while we are in here - - ...” and the quote will be a million miles away from the finished work .
so let the seller rectify to your surveyors 2nd report if that allowed in the contract ?

Basically follow the “ found defects “ part of the contract .

 

[[2068]]

Main faults are;
Rusty sumps
Corroded lift rams
Leaking turbo
Leaking / corroded steering arms
Play in outdrive joints.

There were other minor points

All that stuff is fixable by throwing money at it, ideally the sellers money.
What’s not so easily fixable are structural issues or if the interior is in poor condition.
There’s no such thing as pass/fail with a survey - it’s just an inspection to identify issues.

.

 

[simonfraser]

Main faults are;
Rusty sumps
Corroded lift rams
Leaking turbo
Leaking / corroded steering arms
Play in outdrive joints.

There were other minor points

i would not trust the seller to put these things right to your satisfaction.
sounds like a lot of corroded / rusty bits that the owner should be aware of.
why have they not been rectified ?
where is his record of maintaining the boat ?

make a v low offer if you like the interior / rest of the boat
but there are likely to be other gremlins not yet documented .....

or, crank the repair bill up and make the project unrealistic to sell to you, if that is what you need to get out of the deal

 

[steveeasy]

Id not worry at all about any of it. the failed survey, isn't failed, its just identified issues. what boat does not have issues. Unsigned agreement, well id leave it like that. if you want your deposit back then just write requesting it be returned.

Steveeasy

 

[julians]

Thats not a hugely surprising list for a boat that's a few (10+? We don't know from the post) years old. Sounds like if everything else about the boat is OK(and you trust the surveyor to have been thoroughabout everything else) and the price is acceptable to you, why wouldn't you give the seller a chance to fix that list? I guess the risk is that he gives the impression the list is fixed when it isn't really or somehow its been superficially made to look fixed.

I guess your surveyor should be able to ensure that the work has been done to a good standard?.

 

[petem]

I agree, many (most?) outdrives will have some corrosion on the rams. I'd ask for the outdrive issues to be rectified by the seller.

The sumps is an interesting one, does it require removal of the engines? Perhaps this might be a price adjustment item so that you can get it fixed at your leisure, perhaps when the engines have to come out for some other reason.

What engines / drives are they?

 

[jwilson]

You paid a deposit without a signed agreement in place?

That in itself is not that uncommon: but the broker should not have allowed the survey to take place until he had the sale and purchase agreement signed by both parties as well as the deposit. There are those who dislike the standard agreement plus deposit before survey, but the agreement actually protects both parties.

 

[russ]

I agree, many (most?) outdrives will have some corrosion on the rams. I'd ask for the outdrive issues to be rectified by the seller.

The sumps is an interesting one, does it require removal of the engines? Perhaps this might be a price adjustment item so that you can get it fixed at your leisure, perhaps when the engines have to come out for some other reason.

What engines / drives are they?

2005 Kad32’s. I don’t know what Volvo outdrives

 

[CLB]

2005 Kad32’s. I don’t know what Volvo outdrives

Probably DP-E. Nothing particularly surprising on that list for a 14 year old boat. Ask for it to be put right and pay what you offered, or make a reduced offer based on what you now know. To be honest, I wouldn't expect 100% of fixing costs off the offer you have already made. Arguably with these items fixed or renewed, the boat is worth more than when you made your offer. Of course much depends on what boat it is, how much was being asked, and what offer you had accepted. Without all the info, we can only guess as to which way to go.

 

[russ]

Probably DP-E. Nothing particularly surprising on that list for a 14 year old boat. Ask for it to be put right and pay what you offered, or make a reduced offer based on what you now know. To be honest, I wouldn't expect 100% of fixing costs off the offer you have already made. Arguably with these items fixed or renewed, the boat is worth more than when you made your offer. Of course much depends on what boat it is, how much was being asked, and what offer you had accepted. Without all the info, we can only guess as to which way to go.

I would agree that there will always be an element of work needed but my excepted offer price was not a lot lower than asking price. Therefore getting the work done will not necessarily add value.
I will see what the quoted costs are by the brokers engineer. The only worry is the work could be bodged. Which then raises the question that I have the work done and build in the price drop. What if we find more problems than anticipated and costs escalate above the agreed price adjustment.

 

[Greg2]

I would agree that there will always be an element of work needed but my excepted offer price was not a lot lower than asking price. Therefore getting the work done will not necessarily add value.
I will see what the quoted costs are by the brokers engineer. The only worry is the work could be bodged. Which then raises the question that I have the work done and build in the price drop. What if we find more problems than anticipated and costs escalate above the agreed price adjustment.

The drives are probably DP-G. Our S34 is a similar age and that is what she has. I have answered your initial post on the Sealine Forum so won’t repeat here but in summary my thoughts are that the issues are resolvable and are good negotiating points to get a price reduction so that you can pay for a reputable engineeer to resolve them. Quite simple actually, either there is a commensurate price reduction or you walk. The Broker’s comment about allowing the owner the chance to resolve probably won’t fly and I would take a very firm line on that. That said, there may be a middle ground where you agree on who will do the work with the vendor paying.

I am, of course, thinking with my head because I am not emotionally involved nor do I have a financial stake and only you will know whether or not you want to proceed with the purchase. If you do then negotiate hard and if you don’t then walk - S34s pop up in the market quite regularly as there were plenty built.